Numerous reporters from Israel have claimed that since the beginning of the World Cup in Qatar, they have been shunned by almost everyone. Reports have mentioned that they have faced extreme hostility and hatred from fans, officials, and players alike.
Many times fans or players have altogether refused to talk to any Israeli journalist. Even if someone comes up on the mic, instead of giving their opinion or answering whatever the report is asking, they often yell at them telling them to go away and sometimes also showing the Palestinian flag to show disapproval towards the ‘tyrannical’ Israeli government.
Moav Vardy, a foreign affairs reporter from the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, said that when he stopped a Saudi man, he shouted at the reporter and told him, “You are not welcome here, this is Qatar, this is our country, there is only Palestine, no Israel.”
“You are not welcome here..”
A Saudi football fan refuses to talk to an Israeli reporter during the #FIFAWorldCup2022 in Qatar. pic.twitter.com/toWi68xlzL
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) November 26, 2022
There are many other instances wherein people have even walked away from an interview knowing the journalist is an Israeli. In one instance, one of the N12 journalists, Oham Hemo was asking a group of Lebanese men some questions before they left even before uttering one word, upon discovering that Oham is an Israeli. One of the men even turned back and asked him why is he there and that Israel doesn’t exist.
Fans have been showing support for Palestine throughout the World Cup.Likewise, in the stands all across the stadium, there are many people are holding Palestinian flags to show their protest against Israel.
Well, all this hate against the middle eastern country is coming after its blatant attack on Palestine where numerous people died including children.
“אם הייתם מישראל הייתי עוצר ונוסע בחזרה”
אלי אוחנה במפגש מתוח עם שוטר קטארי@avico21 pic.twitter.com/kHMjJueKRy— כאן (@kann) November 25, 2022
Meanwhile, a majority of reports are saying that they don’t feel welcome at all. One of the reports named Raz Shechnick writes on his Twitter,
“We didn’t want to write these words, we are not the story here. but after ten days in Doha, we cannot hide what we are going through. We are feeling hated, surrounded by hostility, not welcomed.”
The reporter also mentioned how he and his colleague also lied about their country of origin in order to be not ostracized by the fans.
